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Inside This Issue:
And for all of you who thought you'd never see us politically correct.....
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| What are you
howling about?
Shelby admires an "objet b'ark" in Monterey. |
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For folks traveling on Interstates 5 or 80, Chez
Simcoe offers better than average guest accommodations. (Please call ahead.) Frequent
guests in 2001 were daughter Sherri and her Cub Pack (Husband Rich
Jorgensen, sons Ryan Vasquez, Lucas, and Michael
Jorgensen.) Turns out that we
are in a good location to get an early morning start to the ski areas on
Donner Pass. (And Café Kent
reputedly serves an adequate breakfast.)
Sally’s brother Bill Staudte and his wife
Janice serve as foster parents in Arizona.
Bill was returning one of their charges to Ridgecrest, (China
Lake) California in early December. He
called one Saturday morning and said, “Hey, as long as I’m in the
neighborhood, howzbout I drop by?” (Ridgecrest
is at least 250 miles “crow flight” -- 400 if your wings aren’t up to it
and you want to use pavement.) Bill
arrived at Oh Dark Thirty Sunday morning and spent a couple of days.
It was great to see him for the first time in five years.
Sally’s younger brother Larry Staudte came up Sunday
afternoon.
Although Sally’s accolades come frequently and
loud, job security at HP is tenuous.
The last series of layoffs at HP seemed to ignore performance
evaluations and ranking, and rather to assign terminations by lottery (with a
detectible bias toward senior employees.)
Hewlett-Packard’s CEP (Chief Executive Princess) Carleton
Fiorina has completely squandered HP’s greatest asset and has
totally demoralized the troops. The
“esprit” has become “da corpse.”
Carly is offended that the eldest of the Hewlett and Packard
clans are opposing her merger of HP with Compaq.
The rank and file side with H and P, especially folks who have invested
pride and emotion making HP a great company. One of the prime features of HP had been its sense of
“family.” It’s really hard
to root for someone who intends to randomly terminate 15,000 of your brothers
and sisters. Where are Dorothy,
Toto, and the bucket of water when we need them?
We managed some neat trips in 2001.
In April we attended the National Association of Broadcasters
convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. As
usual, an absolutely incredible number of video production “toys” were on
display. Ah, that we could but win
the lottery! We would love to
provide CCI an auditorium with built-in cameras, jumbo screens, and a
state of the art control booth.
At the end of June we attended and videotaped Jama Bennett’s ASCOT
San José meeting. ASCOT’s
premise is that folks with disabilities are just as vital and desirable as
everyone else and we have videographic proof.
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Shelby admires Monterey Bay on an ASCOT field trip. |
In early July we sauntered through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and
Colorado to visit son Brian, daughter-in-law Donna,
granddaughter Grace, and son Mark. We also got to visit friends and enjoy some incredible
scenery. Grace joined us
for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.
What a charmer! Ah, if we
had but known how much fun grandkids are…(we would have started with them.)
| Grace and Shelby |
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A lot of our
time is involved with CCI activities.
Each September, CCI holds a Black Tie and Tails gala in
Santa Rosa. Kent got all
“tuxed up.” Sally and Shelby
were TOTALLY stunning in their matching gowns.
Special thanks to friend and seamstress Cathi Barrett for
her tireless efforts. What really stood out were the matching manicures
that Sally and Shelby were sporting.
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Sally & Shelby in their matching outfits. (Check out Shelby's toe nails.) |
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Kent looks dashing in his tux |
Ashelby Pro
Bono Productions
did
another four CCI graduation videos in 2001.
Additionally, we were asked to provide a video “Introduction to
CCI” for a fundraising festivity in Sun Valley, Idaho in October.
Sally used the verbiage from the CCI web site to provide
the script. Neighbor and fellow
choir member Stan “Cronkite Pipes” Hogshead volunteered to
do the narration. Executive
Producer Annie Williams provided us with many video clips that Sally
and Kent edited in. The final result is a 12-minute introductory piece entitled Providing
Miracles One At A Time. Several
copies have already been distributed to CCI volunteers to use as part
of CCI demonstrations.
We attended Annie’s
Sun Valley Shindig the weekend of October 13th.
The previous weekend we were in Santa Rosa for a CCI Graduate
Seminar. We made a big week
of getting from Santa Rosa to Ketchum, Idaho.
On Monday, we parked the Bird of Play (our 28 foot motor home)
at Lenor Madruga Chappel’s excellent facilities in Southern Oregon.
Lenor and her husband Roy have a really neat place back
in the woods with plenty of space for camping friends.
Lenor’s continuation of her autobiography, The Next Leg Of My Journey
is now in print. Simcoe Communications is selling it over the Internet. Lenor’s
first book, One Step At A Time
has been described as the story of coming to grips with losing her leg to
cancer. This continuation
describes her loss of marriage. Both
books are fast paced and ultimately celebrations of the human spirit.
We also spent a
night with Linda and Chuck Humphrey in Corvallis, Oregon.
Chuck is now retired from HP.
They have just moved into a new home on a golf course and are enjoying
their free time and grandkids. The
Humphreys introduced us to Best In Show, a really great video
(especially for the “dog show” crowd.)
We recommend it highly.
The
next evening we parked the Bird in front of Sandra and Jim Harris’s
in Portland. Sandra and Jim
are Shelby’s puppy raisers. We always like to show them what a
fine job they did. Sandra
and Jim will soon be on their way to Southern China for a “medical
missionary” stint. Prayers for
their safe journey and successful mission are greatly appreciated.
The following
night was Boise, and the next, Sun Valley.
Gorgeous country.
In November we
took the video equipment to Orange County to document the festivities of the CCI
Heritage Society. CBS
newswoman Bree Walker was the moderator of the panel discussion.
It is a treat to work with a real professional.
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CCI presented an "Oscar" to Simcoe Communications for the 2000 Heritage Society video. |
The CCI
Heritage Society meeting was the same weekend as the Leonid meteor
shower. Originally, we planned to
drive part way up Mount Palomar to get a good view.
Unfortunately, the weather clouded up, so we left Oceanside in late
afternoon and got a motel that we understood to be near the top of the
“Grapevine” (the mountain pass on Interstate 5 just past the southern end
of the Central Valley.) Turns out
that the motel was really at the foot of the pass, but machts no big nichts.
We slept for a couple of hours, checked to see that the sky was clear,
and proceeded back up to the top of the pass to see the view.
Alas, all of Kern County had the same idea. We had some sense of foreboding when we saw how many lights there were heading west on California 58 going toward Mount Piños. Thousands of people. A veritable ‘70s style “Happening.” “Rocky Mountain High” on the breeze. But what a show! Nature at its best. For those of you who also took in the spectacle, “Bravo.” For those who tried, but could not prevail above the weather, our condolences. For those who said “So what” or didn’t even know that it was happening, shame on you. You missed something fantastic.
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Canine
Companions for Independence
honors volunteers by naming pups after them.
Last year, we introduced Simcoe II, a handsome black Labrador
retriever. Another CCI
method for naming pups is to auction off the privilege. We chose to name another pup Henry in honor of Kent’s
dad. Henry III is a yellow
Labrador retriever who began his training in October. Tell me more about Simcoe II |
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Once upon a time, and for many years, there was a small quarterly magazine called Accent on Living. It was an upbeat resource for folks with a variety of disabilities. In the middle of last year, the long-time publisher decided to retire. Furthermore, she decided that Accent on Living should retire also. She did, however, pass along the physical plant to a lady named Betty Garee. Betty named her "new" magazine SpeciaLiving.
Judy Squier, a friend from the Bay Area, has written several articles, both for Accent on Living, and now for SpeciaLiving. Judy prevailed upon Betty to solicit the story of what it is like to be Sally and Kent. Ours is the final story in SpeciaLiving, Volume 1, Number 2. In case you can't find it on your local newsstand, here is our original submission:
Back in 1999, Kent
received an e-mail that started out, “Are you the Kent Simcoe who
went to John J. Pershing School…?”
The e-mail was from a grade-school classmate, Larry Burgeheimer.
Much e-mail followed. Kent
and Larry got together for lunch in San Francisco in 2000 while Kent
was teaching Cisco Routers at Bank of America.
Larry makes frequent trips to Kansas City to attend to his
mother’s business and concerns and had made contact with some of our other
classmates. Larry was
interested in creating a 50th anniversary reunion of the 1951
Seventh Grade Class of John J. Pershing School, Kansas City, Missouri.
Kent said, “Count us in.”
And it came to pass… On October 27, 2001, we reunited. Twenty-eight classmates and the two surviving Pershing teachers gathered to tour the school and count coup (brag about our grandkids, etc.) What a neat bunch of people! Ashelby Pro Bono Productions provided videographic coverage of the festivities.
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1951 John J. Pershing - Seventh Grade Graduating Class |
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John J. Pershing - Seventh Grade 50th Anniversary Reunion - October 2001 (at about the same positions). |
While we were in
Kansas City, we got together with Kent’s cousin Gay Keuhl and
her husband Chris, and Rachel and Don Wegener. More
neat people.
Grandson Ryan
Vasquez has taken to theater in a big way.
He has performed in several productions by the Children’s
Musical Theater of San José. He
was especially good as “the cat” in the CMT production of Pinocchio.
This year he is cast in the lead role as “HONK” in CMT’s
adaptation of The Ugly Duckling.
| Ryan as "the cat" in Pinocchio. Stage mom, Sherri smiles in the background. |  |
| Post-performance exhaustion is evident. Great job, Ryan. |  |
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There are those
few times in life when you know that your efforts have succeeded to the
absolute fullest. Kent had
one such moment in December when dual pianists Stephen Nielson and Ovid
Young presented a concert at Pleasant
Grove Community Church. Barbara
Latter, Minister of Worship and Communication, asked Kent if
he could provide a video close-up of the keyboards of the pianos on the large
screens above the chancel. Mais
oui!
A small digital
camcorder was pointed at each keyboard. A
direct video feed went to each of the projectors
behind the screens. Technically
the video quality was excellent, and esthetically the effect was outstanding.
Everyone in the audience could see the incredible keyboard action that Nielson
and Young were demonstrating.
Nielson and Young
have been performing worldwide for thirty years.
They said that they had never had such a spectacular presentation of
their playing.
Pseudo-daughter and frequent guest Tina Verduzco became “handicapped” for a few weeks this past summer. While carpooling to work, traffic did a “Welk” – a really big accordion job. The van in which Tina was riding hit the car ahead and she got “airbagged.” The result was a nasty break to her left arm above her wrist. Although Tina has never considered her short-statured leglessness to be a handicap, getting around with one hand in the air is really tough, especially for a wheelchair jockey. (Tina could only turn left!)
| Nothing stops that fabulous smile. |
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Tina was off work for many weeks.
Her mother Celia came from Mexico to help out.
Celia and Tina had a great time together.
Tina, Celia, and Korina came to visit one weekend. Although Celia speaks no English y Sally no habla español,
they seemed to understand each other completely, especially while working with Sally’s
sewing machine.
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Tina and her niece Korina await the arrival of Tina's mom, Celia. |
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A blessed reunion, Tina and Celia. |
Now all is well. Tina’s
arm is nearly back to normal. She’s
zipping around like always, but her life will never be the same.
Shortly after the supporting hardware was removed from her arm, she met Mark
Thrift. Ah! True
love! (We recognize it!) A
spring wedding is being planned.
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Sadly we report the passing of Diana Golden Brosnihan, a brilliant spirit taken much too soon. During her skiing career, Diana garnered 19 Gold medals in world competition plus a Gold at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988. The cancer that had taken her right leg at age twelve returned to take her breasts in 1994. Doctors gave her six months to live. Diana died last August, resolved but upbeat to the end. And now the world is a little dimmer. |
In 1986, prior to starting Simcoe Communications, Kent produced a video of Diana’s training regimen in preparation for her Olympic debut. With Diana’s blessing, we re-edited and updated the piece last June. All proceeds from World Champion: Director's Cut are given to support sports programs for the disabled.
View obituary
from Boston Globe
Neither of us
had been theologically comfortable with the concept of “original sin.”
We understood it to be something about Adam and Eve messing around with
a Macintosh. Then came September
11th. Suddenly it was
obvious that “original sin” is another name for “human nature.”
We thank God that George Bush is president.
We consider ourselves basically pacifists, but our “human nature”
would have immediately converted the entirety of Afghanistan into a monstrous
nuclear-fused glass parking lot had the button been located here.
Cooler heads have chosen to excise the evil. We are extremely thankful.
A recurring
comment among several of us “Aged Persons Venting Methane” is that we
would quickly place ourselves in harm’s way to protect our home and country.
First observation: There ARE causes for which people will give their lives.
Second observation: There
are reasons for which some people will KILL and certain persons SHOULD be
killed. The crimes of September
11th are absolute evils for which NO excuse can be offered.
The perpetrators should be removed from life on this planet.
This is not a time to “turn the other cheek.” An enemy has sworn to annihilate us. We must protect ourselves and our loved ones by removing
those who would destroy us.
As these words
are being typed, the “guests” are arriving at the Guantanamo Hilton.
May their visits be short and may Allah judge them appropriately.
Love,
This page last revised:
03/07/02
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